Getting Help at School - Where Do I Begin??

One of the most difficult things that parents of children newly diagnosed with TS face is the process of working with the school system.  First and foremost you must go about helping school personnel understand your child and how TS and its associated disorders affect performance and behavior in the classroom.  Secondly, you will need to investigate if accommodations and modifications alone will be sufficient or if special education services will be necessary for your child.  It is common for a child with TS to need some modifications or accommodations in a school setting,  Some will require special education services while remaining in the general education setting and may need a smaller more restrictive  setting with more supports than the general education setting can provide.  

We hope that the information contained in this section of the web site will help you navigate this system.  You will also find some links to other agencies and offices that will be most helpful to you as you make your way through the "maze" of obtaining supports and/or special education services for your child.
 

• OHI (Other Health Impaired) is the appropriate special education classification for children with TS as indicated in the Federal Special Education Regulations.
  
  
• Always put your request for classification and testing in writing to the school principal or the chairperson of the Special Education Committee. Include a copy of the doctor’s diagnosis of TS including any related or accompanying neurological disorders (ADHD, OCD, etc.) and literature from the Tourette Syndrome Association. (See sample letter below).
  
  
• Not all children with TS will be eligible for special education and an IEP.  Some will merely require minor modifications or accommodations in an accepting environment. 504 Plans may be sufficient to meet your child’s needs.
  
  
• Special Education Services (IEP). Do not accept a refusal for classification based on the following reasons:
  
  
  1. Your child does not qualify as Learning Disabled. This doesn’t apply because you are not seeking a classification of LD, but OHI.
     
     
  2. Your child does not qualify for services because he is receiving good grades.  Federal law states that special education cannot be denied because a student is receiving passing grades and/or progressing from grade to grade.   Additionally the Law states that a student’s developmental and functional progress must be taken into consideration in addition to academic performance.
     
     
• Always try to bring someone from your local TSA or an advocate with you to the meeting and remember that you have the right to take the IEP home with you and have it reviewed before agreeing to it.
  
  
• If the school has never been in serviced on TS, they will most likely be unable to observe the impact of TS on performance.  Request that an in service be provided by a representative from your local TSA chapter or use the video “A Teacher Looks at Tourette Syndrome”.
  
  
• Obtain information available through TSA, Inc. Assume that most of your child’s teachers know little about TS and the accompanying disorders. Do your homework and be prepared to educate school personnel about TS, related disorders and the approach that is most effective for your child.

Educate yourself by reading materials provided by TSA before you meet with teachers. TSA's Introduction to Educational Advocacy brochure (#5 below) will be of great assistance.


List of Top TSA Brochures For Parents and Educators
1) An Educator's Guide to Tourette Syndrome (TSA Publication number E100; download E100DD)
2) TS in the Classroom (E101; download E101DD)
3) Specific Classroom Strategies and Techniques for Students with TS (E115b; download E115bDD)
4) Learning Problems and the Student with TS (E116; download E116DD)
5) Introduction to Educational Advocacy: The Basic Tools (E121; download E121DD)
6) Discipline and the Child with TS (A102b; download A102bDD)
7) Catalog of Accommodations for Students with TS, ADHD,OCD(E125; download E125DD)
8) Tourette is More Than Tics - Free - Click Here.
9) Workbook Functional Behavioral Assessments & Positive Interventions Plans (E126; download E126DD)

TSA Videos and CD Presentations (Consider donating a video to your child’s school)
1 )A Teacher Looks at Tourette Syndrome (AV12M; AV12NM)
2) HBO/TSA Documentary, “I Have Tourette's but Tourette's Doesn’t Have Me” (DVD13M; DVD13NM; DVD13V)
3) Teaching Children with Tourette Syndrome: A Resource for Educators (AV02a)
4) TSA Educators' Curriculum (CD) (E120W;E120nW)
(All of these materials can be purchased on line on this website; clicking on any item will take you to our online store).
 

Sample School Letter
Sample letter for parent to address to either the school principal or the coordinator of the Special Education Department.

Dear ______________,
My child, ________________, has recently been diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome by Dr. ___________.  Tourette Syndrome is a neurological spectrum disorder which is almost always accompanied by other neurological disorders.  My child has thus also been diagnosed with (LIST RELATED DISORDERS).  I have observed the impact that all of these disorders are having on his/her academic performance and social emotional well being.  I have also learned from TS literature that a very large number of children with TS also exhibit learning disabilities especially in the area of non-verbal learning.  These disabilities very often include sensory issues, processing difficulties and dysgraphia (difficulty with written language).

I am therefore requesting that my child be observed and receive a complete psycho-educational evaluation  by the school psychologist as the first step in seeking from the IEP Team a classification of Other Health Impaired.  I am also requesting evaluations in the following area(s) that I suspect as being areas of deficit.  (LIST SPECIFIC AREAS OF DIFFICULTIES)   

I am including a letter of diagnosis from the treating physician and materials from the Tourette Syndrome Association to be shared with my child’s teachers and the school psychologist.  In the interim, I will be more than happy to meet with school personnel working with my child to discuss what behaviors he/she may be exhibiting in the classroom as a result of this diagnosis and what educators can do to assist.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. I look forward to hearing from you soon and to working together with school personnel to provide an optimum learning environment for my child.
Sincerely,